ABSTRACT
The most distinctive characteristic of the Republican efforts, in contrast to those of the Democrats, is that they had a centralized strategy from the start, which was organized and relatively well funded. The Republicans’ critical messages seem to have been left to the printed and radio propaganda. In contrast to the Republican Party, the Democratic Party did not develop a coherent or a very elaborate communication strategy for wooing Hispanic voters in 1988. An understanding of the Democratic Party’s Hispanic-oriented advertising strategy requires the discussion of two factors: organizational structure, and the ads themselves. National campaigns require, for example, themes, sounds, and images that serve as common denominators among various Hispanic groups; statewide or more-focused campaigns should try to tailor their message to the predominant Latino national group in the locality. Analysts heralded 1988 as a year of great potential for Latino electoral influence.
